Don't Ask; Don't Tell

She looked as shocked as if Allen had started to undress in front of her. Her face registered total disbelief. She stammered, stuttered, stepped back. She was stunned.

And, what was it that was so shocking to our efficient faculty advisor?

We had just spent over an hour going over the expectations/procedures/syllabus/outline of our Freshmen Business English classes. Kathy (her American name), had explained the vocabulary the students would be required to know by the end of term 1. Our job was to help the students with their ORAL English skills...not writing, not listening. They had Chinese teachers for those skills. We were to go through Book 2 of the Business English handbook.

And, then, she had wanted us to look at a classroom similar to the one we would be teaching in. As we stood in the classroom by the front podium, which has multi-media capabilities, Allen had shown her his web pages, and then asked....

"Is it alright if I use music in the classroom to teach idioms and American culture? I had planned to bring a guitar and sing with the students."

And, that is when the horrified look had appeared on her face. She was so taken aback. This was something that was beyond the traditions in the classroom, beyond how she had been taught, and beyond how she herself teaches in the classroom. Finally, recovering, she had asked, "How often were you planning to do this?"

So, here's what is interesting about this whole scenario.

One of the reasons the BYU teachers are so highly successful year after year as teachers in China is because they do what has not been done in Chinese classrooms before; namely group activities, class discussions, interaction, and MOST OF ALL; MUSIC!

Over and over in our two-week workshop in Provo, former teachers told us how they incorporated music into their teaching; it's a good way to help the students learn and it makes the learning more memorable. The students give the BYU teachers glowing performance reviews; they love the new ways of being taught, and most importantly - they learn. One teacher told me two days ago, that her Freshmen students scored the highest in her university on the standarized tests at the end of the year. And, she had used music in her classroom EVERY DAY!

Allen was very disappointed as we left that encounter...he said, "Why did they hire us? They could get an ape to go through the student manual." It was all very discouraging.

When we talked it over with a long-time teacher of English from America, he said, "You shouldn't ask...just do it...what are they going to do? Fire you?" Then he went on to add; "This is my job. I have to comply, but you should just stick to the manual for the first couple of weeks, then do what you had planned."

So, I've learned the Military had it right; don't ask, don't tell.

But, in the meantime, Allen has lost a lot of his enthusiasm for our experience here. What those students are now missing!